


Connect

by biohazardous



Category: Tomb Raider (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, Mutual Pining, Shared Trauma, Theyre both dumb, post Shadow of the Tomb Raider, sam being very american, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-29 07:48:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21406693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biohazardous/pseuds/biohazardous
Summary: sam is spending the night at croft manor after not talking to lara for four years.
Relationships: Lara Croft/Samantha Nishimura
Comments: 2
Kudos: 129





	Connect

**Author's Note:**

> if there’s any mistakes it’s because i wrote this in one go while on the verge of coma-like sleep, enjoy!

Lara’s eyes shot open, a gasp falling from her lips as she sits up in the bed. Nightmares still plagued Lara’s sleep, she’d woken up almost every night in nearly the same position and she had hoped that tonight would be different. Sam asked if she could spend the night in the manor with her, knowing that the manor being empty made Lara feel lonely. 

Lara had happily agreed, she missed her best friends company and after everything that had happened in the past years they needed bonding time. Both Sam and Lara were glad that Lara had repaired the manor a couple months ago. Lara had shown Sam photos of the hole in the ceiling and all the overgrown trees and plants (which looked really cool, but wasn’t ideal) and Sam was kind of scared to see that in person. 

The two decided to share stories from their time apart, Lara telling Sam all the gritty and gross details of her trips to Russia and Peru while Sam talked about how the facility was and how much convincing it took her parents to let her be her own person again. It broke Lara’s heart, because she had caused that suffering to her best friend and her family. 

Needless to say it actually made the nightmares worse. The dark grasp of guilt was right around Lara’s throat and was most dangerous while she was asleep. Waking up and Sam not being next to her made her state of stress higher. 

Sam and Lara always shared beds when they spent the night together, Sam was always warm and Lara needed that warmth. It had always been platonic, neither of them knowing the others feelings meant they kept it all bottled up. Tonight however, seemed different. Maybe something could finally change. 

Lara knew she had fallen asleep with Sam at her side, so the empty space next to her just confused her. She pushes her legs over the side of the bed and slides her feet into her slippers, not wanting to even think about touching the floor with her bare feet. She checks the bathroom that’s connected to the room before heading into the hall to find Sam. 

Little exploring needed, as Lara finds Sam in the kitchen with a pop tart in front of her. 

“Where did you even get that?” Lara asks, causing Sam to jump against the counter she was leaning on. 

“Jesus, I thought you were asleep. And I always have pop tarts in my bag, especially when I come here because you Brits won’t just sell them!” Sam turns around, her lower back now against the counter and her face towards Lara. 

“I’ll buy some for the manor then,” Lara speaks without thinking, immediately regretting it. “That is... if you want to continue visiting here.” 

“Nice save.” Sam’s smile isn’t big but it’s enough to know that Sam isn’t mad at Lara, and sometimes that’s all the latter needs. 

“What woke you?” Lara questions, leaning on the counter opposite Sam. Sam, who had just taken a bite of her pop tart, gives Lara a glare. Lara just smiles and patiently waits for Sam to finish chewing. 

“Had a bad dream.” 

“Me too. I woke up gasping for air.” Lara mumbles the last part, but the manor is deadly quiet and for once in four years Sam and Lara don’t seem so distant. 

Sam frowns at Lara, because as usual, she doesn’t know how to take care of herself. Sam hands Lara the glass of water she’d been drinking and Lara takes it with no question, knowing if she did Sam would scold her for not immediately grabbing her own glass. 

“You wanna share?” Sam asks, not knowing how to approach the situation. Four years of not talking to each other takes a lot from how you communicate. 

Lara didn’t respond right away, actually thinking about whether or not she wanted to share. Did she want to delve into the guilt and trauma she felt with Sam? Would Sam even want to hear about it all? Sam who got possessed, put into a facility by her family because of said possession. Sam who was both ignoring and being ignored for four years while Lara went on trips. 

Lara sighed, “It’s not really the kind of thing you’d want to hear. Do you want to share?” Her voice was low and soft and Sam had found herself staring at Lara. She looked cute in her pajamas and messy hair that was usually tied into a ponytail, Sam had missed this so much. 

“Uh, sure.” Sam was never the type to stutter or trip over her words or to even be unsure about anything that graced her lips, but here she was for the first time since Lara had met her, not knowing what to say. 

“Sam?” Lara’s hand was in front of her, palm up as if to ask Sam to hold it. 

“Sorry. My dream was about you.” Sam closed her eyes a second, her mind playing the dream over in her head so she could tell Lara about it. “It was you and I, on Yamatai. It was really just a memory at first, you saving me from that evil man and taking me back down to the boat where Reyes and Jonah were. Except this time someone sh-“ Sam’s voice catches in her throat and Lara pushes herself away from the counter, closer to Sam. 

Lara hands the glass of water back to Sam who happily downs the rest of it in one go. Sam closes her eyes again, the image of Lara covered in her own blood staining her eyelids. How is she gonna tell this to Lara? 

When Sam sets the empty glass onto the counter, Lara takes the chance to grab her other hand. She whispers a ‘take your time’ and Sam knows then that she is most definitely in love. 

“They shot you. I know it was a dream because you’re here and holding my hands but it felt so real and when I woke up I was crying so I left.” Sam exhales and it’s shaky and it almost sounds like she’s crying. 

When Lara doesn’t say anything Sam looks up, meeting the other woman’s eyes and seeing that Lara is looking at her the same way she looks at Lara. Suddenly Sam is extremely aware of Lara’s grasp on her hands and how they were only a foot apart now. If Sam wanted to really tell Lara how she felt, now would be a perfect time. 

Lara hums in understanding before pulling Sam’s arms around her in a hug. Lara let go of Sam’s hands to wrap her arms around Sam’s shoulders and give her a little squeeze of reassurance. Reassurance that she’s okay, that she’s there for her and that she knows the dreams are bad but she’ll work through it. 

It amazes both women how they could say so little after four years and still know exactly what the others actions meant. The hug was a touch that both of them had craved for so long that neither could bring themselves to pull away, especially not Sam. Sam was sure she could stay like that forever. 

Lara surprised herself in how long she really held Sam in the kitchen. She didn’t shy away from physical affection but she’d also never hugged someone that long in her life. In fact, continuously was it that Sam and her hugged for long amounts of time. It started off with small hugs when they first became friends, and over the years they just got longer and longer even after the big gap of not talking. Lara liked that, the steady rise of affection with the woman who she knew she loved but wouldn’t and couldn’t do anything about it. 

“We should head back to sleep,” Sam mumbles into Lara’s shoulder. 

“Yeah. Did you finish your pop tarts?” 

“No, but there’s always time in the morning.” Lara pulls away from the hug first, heading out of the kitchen first as well. 

Sam follows, her eyes focusing on Lara’s back as she walks, both to not get lost and to admire. It took Sam a while to find the kitchen, but it took maybe a minute for the two of them to make it back to the bedroom they had been sleeping in. 

It’s easy for them to fall into the bed together, close enough to share any warmth but not close enough for it to be considered more than friendly. They’re both almost asleep before Lara mutters “thank you” to Sam. And Sam is almost upset that Lara is asleep before she can ask why, except she falls asleep just as quickly.


End file.
